The Killing of America

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Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Chuck Riley, published by LS and SR in 1981 - English narration

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Chronicling the rise of violence from the 1950s to 1980s, director Sheldon Renan compiles police footage, news coverage, and rare film taken by bystanders, to cover race riots, all the most infamous assassinations, the work of mass murderers, and so forth. The aging process of 35 years has also allowed this to mature, and doesn’t seem graphic or crude by today’s standards. There’s also humour and irony, most notably when discussing the lax gun control, and how after after mass shootings the biggest step forward at the time was to stop youths buying weapons via mail. The narration of Chuck Riley is suitably distant and gruff, and although his script sometimes goes to corny in instilling fear, it is mostly a very subjective voice that purposefully never judges. A few interviews are also scattered around, and these are usually so fascinating that you’ll wish there were more. They offer rare insights but are all too brief. This may very well be the point, just as is almost the loose connection between the majority of events covered. It makes us continue a role as a simple bystander being flooded with violent material, with no time to consider impacts, solutions, or reasoning. We may have little to no answers in The Killing of America, but since the film pushes 40 and is still relevant today just reinforces the fact that it seems nobody has done anything regarding the issues raised. Like a terrible timeloop, one can easily think of examples from the past 5 years that could very easily work as a sequel or even remake of what we are shown here. A sadly timely film that depressingly hasn’t aged. This should have been something to look back and be shocked by how bad things were, instead of just leaving an audience shrugging at how similar events are today.